Nokia's high-end combination wired/Bluetooth headset is a solid performer, but it costs a bit much given the sound quality on offer.

Audiophiles looking for a high-end, flexible pair of headphones may be interested in Nokia's $299 BH-905s. While they're not cheap, they offer an unprecedented range of features. They work in four modes: as a regular wired stereo headset or as a wireless Bluetooth headset, with or without active noise cancellation. That flexibility puts it ahead of the wired Bose QuietComfort 15, and above wireless-only headsets like the Motorola S9-HD. The results are somewhat mixed, though; while some folks will find the Nokia BH-905s' feature set too good to pass up, others will be disappointed at the subpar Bluetooth audio quality.

Design, Comfort, and Controls
One thing is clear: Nokia built the BH-905s to last. The set measures 7.1 by 6.1 by 2.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.2 ounces. They're fashioned in black and silver plastic, with black leather ear pads. Thin chrome accent bands surround the edges of the two speakers, while plastic silver panels with a brushed aluminum look set off the sides. The headband is also wrapped in soft leather, with a small Nokia badge in the center. The BH-905s look smaller in person than they do in photos, and compare in size to the Bose QuietComfort 3s and the Sennheiser HD 238s. But the BH-905s are still heavy and bulky as far as portable Bluetooth headphones go, especially next to diminutive models like the Motorola S9-HDs and the Altec Lansing Backbeats.

Plenty of useful controls adorn the BH-905s. The right speaker features media navigation buttons, the combination multi-function and power button, and a volume rocker along the black plastic edge next to a tiny charger port. The left side is clean save for a toggle switch for the active noise canceling, along with a port to use the headset in wired mode and a tiny Bluetooth LED indicator. Like most stereo Bluetooth headsets, the BH-905s also work for making and receiving calls; the dedicated multifunction button handles call answer and rejection duties.

The BH-905s are also supremely comfortable to wear due to the soft leather pads, which closely resemble the ones on the Bose QuietComfort 3. These are over-the-ear phones, so they don't completely drown out external sound; that's what the noise cancellation circuitry is for.

In the box you'll find three adapters for 1/4-inch, 3.5mm, and 2.5mm jacks, which correspond to home or pro audio gear, standard iPod-size headphones, and non-standard phone jacks, respectively. The adapters are small, connect tightly, and don't dangle; just be careful not to lose them. The bundled ad63 adapter is required for any non-Nokia device with a regular 3.5mm headphone jack. (I tried listening without it and heard weird stereo panning and a horribly out of phase sound.) Nokia also packs in a large, zippered hard case with room for the headphones and all the adapters and cords. It's fine for throwing in a travel bag, but it's larger than what many folks would consider portable.

Sound Quality
With active noise cancellation switched off, the BH-905's audio quality was good overall, and on par with less expensive, consumer-oriented wired headphones like the Sony MDR-V6, the Grado SR60, or Creative Zen Aurvana earbuds. There's little mid-bass kick; those who prefer a "flat" response here may be fine with the BH-905s. The highs were somewhat muffled, with a slightly EQ'ed sound that lacked air. That said, there was plenty of detail and a good sense of space (at least as far as headphones go), with a balanced tonal response across the midrange. Muse's The Resistance exhibited crisp cymbals, a tight kick drum, and smooth, natural vocals.

The BH-905s lack bass punch and extension compared with their nearest competitors, the Bose QuietComfort 15s. For example, on the Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies), the BH-905s fail to reproduce some tuned analog kick drums almost entirely. Overall, the Nokia's highs were smoother, though. The BH-905s aren't as bright as the QuietComfort 15s, and arguably do better with pop and rock tracks. And unlike the QuietComfort 15s, the BH-905s can deliver audio in passive mode without using active noise cancellation and draining the battery.

With the BH-905s, your extra money buys you more functionality. Let's start with Nokia's ambient noise cancellation setup. The BH-905s employ Wolfson myZone circuitry, which utilizes eight of the 10 mics inside the headphones in order to detect and combat up to 20 decibels of background noise. (The other two mics capture the sound of your voice during calls.) When switched on, the BH-905s did a decent job of muting noisy environments, including a high-speed fan I had running in the office, although I could still hear it to a small extent. The BH-905's noise canceling wasn't as powerful as the Bose QuietComfort 15s, our current Editors' Choice for wired headsets. Sound-quality wise, the BH-905s' treble became slightly muffled, as if the top end above 10 KHz was rolled off a bit. The overall signal was also a bit louder, so the initial impression is that it sounds better. Once I compensated for the level differences, the BH-905s were a touch more distorted in the lows and midrange with the noise cancellation switched on. In casual background listening, though, it's tough to tell the two modes apart.

Bluetooth Mode
Bluetooth mode was a different story. I had looked forward to this part of the review, since I've never tested headphones that work in both modes before. That made it possible to isolate sound quality differences between the two. Unfortunately, the results were discouraging. Part of the problem is that many cell phones sound terrible over Bluetooth due to an outdated chipset. For the best sound quality, your phone or PC should support Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR (enhanced data rate) and A2DP (for music). But even when paired with a Samsung Rogueand later, a 24-inch aluminum Apple iMac (Nvidia GeForce 9400M)the BH-905s sounded flat, veiled, and closed in. All the sweetness disappeared. Worse, there was a phasey, shrill quality to the lower treble on cymbals, and extra staticky artifacts in spots; Bluetooth mode essentially wrecked the gorgeous remaster of The Beatles' Revolver (encoded in lossless, no less). Motorola compensates for this problem somewhat with extra audio processing built into the S9-HDs. Nokia should at least consider that route next time around, though really we just need a better stereo Bluetooth protocol.

The BH-905s handled other tasks with aplomb. Calls sounded clear, if slightly processed, in both directions over a Samsung Rogue. Bluetooth range was average; I could walk about 15 feet from a paired device before dropouts began to creep into the signal. The BH-905s charge up in just two hours; Nokia claims 16 hours of wireless music playback with noise cancellation on, and 25 hours with it off. My review unit was also a little unstable. Sometimes it didn't respond to pairing requests. Once it crashed entirely, and would no longer connect over Bluetooth until I reset it.

There's plenty of competition for the $299 Nokia BH-905s, but no other set offers the same flexibility. The $99 Motorola S9-HDs sound bright and crisp, and are much cheaper and more portable. But they lack the BH-905's wired fidelity and active noise cancellation, and the S9-HDs aren't nearly as comfortable to wear. On the wired noise cancellation side, the $299 Bose QuietComfort 15s are at the top ofthe class and offer superior noise cancellation, while the smaller $349 QuietComfort 3s are still a solid option and more comparable to the BH-905s in size and design.

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About the Author

Jamie Lendino is the Editor-in-Chief of ExtremeTech.com, and has written for PCMag.com and the print magazine since 2005. Recently, Jamie ran the consumer electronics and mobile teams at PCMag, and before that, he was the Editor-in-Chief of Smart Device Central, PCMag's dedicated smartphone site, for its entire three-year run from 2006 to 2009. Pri... See Full Bio

Nokia BH-905

Nokia BH-905

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